“Being thrown in the deep end” – This is how Anna Bärnreuther recalls her first experience of working for her family’s business at the age of 21. Three years later, she joined the management of Bärnreuther + Deuerlein from Upper Palatinate. Although she was familiar with the company from an early age through her father and uncle, she had to acquire the key specialist knowledge herself. Today, with a few years of experience under her belt, she is getting her company and its Mercedes‑Benz fleet ready for the future.

What are the challenges in your industry?
It’s getting more difficult to find drivers who will stay with the company for a long time. The job is becoming more and more demanding: rapidly increasing traffic, more e‑scooters, bicycles and e‑bikes … what’s more, construction works need to be completed within ever shorter spaces of time, meaning that work often needs to be done at night or at the weekend. This changes truck drivers’ working hours and makes the job less attractive.

What distances do your vehicles cover?
Our vehicles of choice are the Arocs and Actros, which cover between 300 and 500 kilometres per day.

How long will the vehicles remain in the fleet?
We have just acquired a number of new trucks. They will remain in use for a minimum of eight years and a maximum of ten years after purchase.

Have you been impressed by what My TruckPoint has to offer?
Absolutely. The tool helps enormously when ordering spare parts, and I can view all the contract details for every vehicle in one single place.

What do you enjoy most about your work – and what annoys you the most?
What annoys me is the lack of understanding among other road users and many people in general about truck traffic and the truck drivers’ job. But I enjoy working with people and the very varied tasks, both technical and “educational”.